SANTA ANA – Five adult family members living together in a Santa Ana home have been charged with exposing two children to severely unsanitary conditions in a urine and feces-filled residence with 110 cats.

Sharon Howe and her granddaughter Courtney Perez are accused of using their Santa Ana home to collect unwanted cats, obtaining many from animal shelters under the pretense they were operating a rescue organization to find permanent homes for the cats, prosecutors said.

They lived in the home with the other three adult defendants and two girls, ages 6 and 12 years old, prosecutors said. All five defendants are accused of failing to protect and endangering the two children by having them to live in a severely unsanitary and unsafe environment.

Santa Ana Police Animal Services Officers learned of the cat menagerie in February when they received complaints from neighbors about a foul animal odor, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney's office. Officers arrived at the home and immediately smelled an intense odor of urine and feces and live and dead flies congregating around the windows and doors.

Animal Services Officers at first entered the home wearing masks, but they left after only a few minutes when they began feeling ill because of the overwhelming smell, prosecutors said. When they returned, they were wearing full hazmat gear including body suits and respirators.

The officers found grossly unhygienic conditions with feces and urine all over the floors and other surfaces, as well as cat hair, roaches, and flies, prosecutors said.

Severe ammonia exposure, which can be caused by exposure to urine, can cause significant health problems for humans, including respiratory illness, eye irritation, headaches, burns, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and shortness of breath, according to prosecutors.

One of the children slept on a living room couch, surrounded by cats and constantly exposed to the smell of feces and urine, prosecutors said. The other child slept in a bedroom under the similar conditions. At least one of the victims had scratches from the cats on her arms and legs.

Two of the adults had cat feces caked on their feet from walking barefoot in the home when officers were admitted into the house, prosecutors added.

Child Protective Services were contacted immediately, but were not allowed inside due to health and safety risks, according to the news release.

The children were not in the home at the time that police entered and the defendants were told that the girls would be taken into protective custody if other living arrangements could not be provided, prosecutors said. Kerri and Jessy Moreno then found alternative housing for the two young girls.

Officers eventually captured 110 cats inside of the home, many of them feral, according to the news release. Each cat was taken in a separate carrier for examination and medical treatment.

More than 20 of the cats had to be euthanized, prosecutors said. All of the surviving cats had severe flea infestations. Half of the cats suffered serious upper respiratory infections, 25 percent had ear mites, and 25 percent had fecal and urinary contamination of their coats.

Howe and Perez, according to the press release, did not provide any veterinary treatment for the cats while in their care, prosecutors said.

Related Links

Pushinka was one of 110 cats seized from a Santa Ana home in February. CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dozens of cats were brought to Orange County Animal Care in February after they were seized from a home in Santa Ana. The home was so badly contaminated by feces and urine, officers on the scene donned Hazmat suits in order to seize the cats and relocate them to the shelter. CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Nan was one of 110 cats seized from a home in Santa Ana in February. She lived for a short time in an outdoor kennel at Orange County Animal Care before she was adopted. CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Because so many of the cats seized from a Santa Ana home were sick, they were housed in a separate trailer at Orange County Animal Care. Eventually more than 70 of the cats were adopted to new homes or cat rescue organizations. CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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